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Friday, October 24, 2014

Lock In by John Scalzi

John Scalzi’s newest work, Lock In, explores the different themes of
greed, disability culture and rights, and the role of government
spending on society. In the near future a flu like virus, Haden’s
syndrome, kills millions of people. Some of the survivors experience
lock in where they are aware of their surroundings but cannot move their
bodies. Other survivors become Integrators, those that can allow the
locked in to use their bodies through computer implants to experience
physical sensations. The lock in survivors also use “threeps,” or robots
which they use in place of their physical bodies. FBI agent, Chris
Shane, is a lock in survivor that uses a threep to investigate cases
with veteran agent, Leslie Vann. They examine what appears to be a
murder involving an Integrator, but what seems to be a simple answer
becomes a more complicated question as their inquiry continues. The book
is a clever mash-up of science fiction and police procedures with
a wonderful “buddy” aspect between the two FBI agents.